Rollin' and Tumblin'

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"Rollin' and Tumblin'"
Recorded by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, 1928
Muddy Waters, 1950
Elmore James, 1960
Cream, 1966
Canned Heat, 1967
Bob Dylan, 2006

"Rollin' and Tumblin'" is a blues song that has been recorded hundreds of times by various artists[1]. Considered as a traditional, it has been also recorded with different lyrics and titles. Authorship is most often attributed to Hambone Willie Newbern or McKinley Morganfield aka Muddy Waters.

The earliest recorded version is Minglewood blues by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers (Victor,1928), credited to Noah Lewis who played harmonica in the band [2] . Hambone Willie Newbern recorded it as Roll and Tumble Blues (Okeh 8679,1929). Other bluesmen recorded their own versions such as If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day by Robert Johnson(1936) [3] or Rollin' Blues by John Lee Hooker. The best known version became Muddy Waters' Rolling and Tumbling (1950) with Big Crawford on bass for the Chess brothers' Aristocrat Records label in 1950. Leonard Chess insisted that Waters record the song after Waters had recorded a version for the rival Parkway label, featuring his band mates Little Walter and Baby Face Leroy [4]. Elmore James recorded the song as "Rollin and Tumblin'" in 1960 and has been also credited as author.

Since the 1960s the song has been played and recorded by hundreds blues-rock bands, including Cream on their 1966 debut, Fresh Cream, Johnny Winter on his 1968 album The Progressive Blues Experiment, Canned Heat on their 1967 eponymous debut, Blues Creation on their's debut album (1969), Eric Clapton for his 1992 Unplugged album and 2004's Me and Mr. Johnson, by Jeff Beck in 2000 on You Had It Coming, and most recently by Bob Dylan for his 2006 album Modern Times. Dylan claims authorship of the song on most versions of his record. While musically the arrangement is very similar to the Muddy Waters version, Dylan's introduces all new verses, though retaining the two opening lines.

The song features a simple, percussion driven beat, usually with a distinctive slide guitar accompaniment punctuated by harmonica and vocals. The lyrics consist of verses (but no chorus) which have varied over time from artist to artist. Delta bluesman Johnny Shines recorded a version, called "Red Sun" (1975), with the traditional music but different, prison-themed lyrics. The first line is typically "I rolled and I tumbled, I cried the whole night long." The first line of each verse is repeated once, and then followed by a conclusion, the usual 3-line structure for a 12-bar blues lyric.

A mp3 file of the 1928 version by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers can be downloaded here [5]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ All Music Guide as of March 2008
  2. ^ Rypens, Arnold (2000), The Originals
  3. ^ Wald, Elijah (2006). Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues. 
  4. ^ Gordon, Robert G. (2002). Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters. , p.100
  5. ^ http://www.archive.org/details/Minglewood [1]
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